Half-Light
by Redphanqueen
Summary: Dan and Phil decide to adopt, and meet a little girl who is haunted by a strange supernatural force. As the time go on, the force gets stronger and stronger, but Dan and Phil try to help her as best as they can. Meanwhile, nightmares plague them of another girl who seems to be the key to the ghost's identity.(phan)(trigger warnings: child abuse,abuse,blood,and disturbing nightmares
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Dan and/or Phil**

 **Hello Pastries and Happy Halloween, so I know I have several stories I need to get done, however I want to submit to you part of the reason for my absense. Basically I signed up to do the Phandom Big Bang, where fan fic authors sign up to write stories for the month of October. Kind of like NaNoWriMo, and this story isn't done because I'm a horrible lazy person but I do want to thank my Beta kawaii-kanai for helping me. Enjoy**

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All she remembered was screaming. There was always screaming. Either it was mama and papa screaming at each other, or "the girl in the walls" screaming. Honestly, there wasn't a day that went by, where there wasn't a loud clamoring. Jodie remembered a time not so long ago, where mama made her special cream puffs and papa would take her to the park. Those were her favorite times; in the summer when the leaves covered up the sun shining in the sky and the wind blew just right. That was why she loved living in the country better than in the towns or the cities. Papa always said they were so rainy.

Then one day she had to move… but that was ok because she made a friend; she was her special friend. She lived in the walls of their new flat. Sometimes, she could even hear her scratching at night or hear her laughing. It was scary at first, but she quickly got used to it… sadly, this was when mama and papa started fighting… honestly… she wanted it all to go away. She wanted the fighting to stop, wanted mama to stop crying, wanted papa to stop leaving and coming back smelling of smoke and for him to stop drinking from the brown bottles. The tiny nine year old was laying in bed, covering her ears.

Whenever they fought her friend screamed too… They couldn't hear her screaming; not like Jodie could. It sounded horrible. She covered her ears, and shut her eyes tightly as she lay there under her covers; trying to drown out the sounds of screaming: of glass breaking, of the girl scratching at the walls and making loud banging sounds. She wanted it to stop… right.. now. Her eyes shot open as her door swung open… and after more screaming downstairs…

The screaming stopped…

 **A Year Later**

"Well here we are… I'm not sure about this Phil." Said Dan, as they stood in front of the orphanage. His arms crossed over his chest while his brown eyes looked at the large brick house. Honestly, he was excited and he wanted to start a family with Phil, but… what if he screwed up? What if he ruined the child's life? What if they hated him? What if they hated living with him and Phil? Was he even ready? Millions of questions drifted around in his mind. When Phil gently took Dan's hand in his, his fingers intertwining with Dan's own.

"It'll be fine." Said Phil reassuringly.

"Are you sure? I mean… this is another life we're talking about and one slip up could traumatize them for life. How do we even know they'll like us or want to be adopted by us?" Asked Dan, his brown eyes looking into Phil's blue ones. He'd always loved Phil's blue eyes; they held reassurance, and warmth… almost as if, deep down, Phil knew everything would be ok and that was being reflected in his eyes.

"I know, it's a big step for both of us but I think we can do it. We're going to be amazing parents, really." Said Phil, confidence emanating from him. Dan sighed and followed Phil up the steps. Honestly he was still pretty nervous, but if Phil said they were ok then it had to be true. After all, unlike him, Phil always had this sense of security. He did things and didn't over think them like Dan did. Which was something he both admired and slightly disliked about Phil.

They knocked on the door to be greeted with an old matronly woman. She looked like the type of woman who would knit you sweaters and bake you cookies with her dark floral skirt, white button up blouse and pink cardigan. Her brown eyes twinkled with a happiness, matching her smile as she saw them.

"Welcome! You must be the Howell-Lesters!" Said the woman, with a small chuckle. "My name is Abigail Finchley."

"Thank you ma'am. I'm Phil, and this is my husband Dan." Said Phil, Dan smiled and shook her hand.

"Nice to meet you." Said Dan politely.

"Oh you two seem like such a lovely couple. Come in, come in." Said Mrs. Finchley, Dan and Phil looked at each other before entering the house. The walls were pastel green and the wood of the floor was mahogany. There were carpets everywhere so it was a wonder you could even see the floor. The couches had plastic on them, one against the window and the other next to it as both faced a television set.

"Now, I see you've gone over the process." She replied, as she read through the paperwork and checking them off. "Met with a social worker, taken preparation classes, taken a medical examination, provided your references, and met with the agency."

"Yup, it was overwhelming at first to be honest." Said Dan, truthfully it had been. It seemed as if they'd been spending so many nights worrying, hoping that everything went right. Finally, now the process was over and done with.

"Ah yes, most everyone says that. Now, what are your occupations?" Asked Abigail curiously.

"Oh, we're BBC Radio presenters. We do a lot of things like hosting Reading festival, radio shows and other special events. We also have another job as Youtubers, which means we're payed to make videos for Youtube. We included, a disk of videos if you wanted to look them over." Said Phil, the woman looked down at the disk. Honestly Dan knew that most people weren't really expecting that part.

"I see, and do you make enough income with these jobs?" She asked.

"Yes, we do." Said Dan, and after going back and forth for a couple of hours or so, they were allowed to see the children. Dan smiled softly as Phil seemed to be really excited. He was too but… he was still nervous about this. Years of being rejected by people and being bullied had made his self esteem really low. Sure he was getting better at it, but he wanted to do a good job.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Dan and/or Phil nor anyone associated with them**

 **Prewritten chapter**

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They entered a room where children were running around playing and laughing when they stopped and looked up at Dan and Phil. A few were whispering and others were giggling, there was one little girl though who hadn't joined the others. She was just sitting there by the window, staring up at the tree branches.

"Jodie dear, come here." Said Mrs. Finchley, taking notice of the girl. She was tiny, with blond hair and big blue eyes; immediately she avoiding their gaze and went over to the group. A few of the kids stepped away from her as she joined the group.

"These are the two Mr. Howell-Lesters, I'll just leave you two to get acquainted with them. Let me know once you've made a decision." Said Mrs. Finchley, before turning to the children. " Carry on then, and behave."

As the children went along their business, Dan and Phil talked and introduced themselves to the children who went up to them. There were thirteen children as young as five to as old as twelve, well Dan counted twelve of them . He looked up, to see Jodie retreating to her corner, one of the other girls looked over to where Dan was looking and scrunched up her nose.

"Oh, you don't want her Jodie's creepy and weird." Said the little girl loud enough for her to hear. A few of the kids giggled while others stayed silent, as Jodie just started drawing.

"Hey, thats not very nice." Said Phil, as Dan went over to Jodie. He could see that she was drawing some trees and some flowers. There were very few crayons in the tin box, just a few of them which were very dirty and others that were much too small. His brown eyes looked over to the other tins, filled with fresh brand new crayons. He looked back to Phil, who was still talking to the other children before turning back to Jodie.

"That's a nice drawing." Said Dan, "Why are you making the sun orange?" He asked as she got an orange crayon and started coloring the sun in the corner of the paper.

"I ran out of yellow and Jenny says I'm not allowed any new crayons, so I have to wait until someone doesn't want a yellow anymore." She replied, he took one of the seats and sat down.

"Whose Jenny?" Asked Dan curiously.

"The one who told you I was creepy." She replied, still drawing the sun's rays. He nodded, as she then got a blue one and started making a lake.

"Why don't you take one of these or ask Mrs. Finchley for new ones?" He asked curiously.

"The last time I did, Jenny hit me and if I tell Mrs. Finchley then they'll just be meaner and meaner. They don't hit that hard though." She replied, and Dan lifted an eyebrow in concern about that. He noticed a few other drawings nearby. Most of them were of parks, and lakes with ducks or swans others were of course about the usual things little girls drew. Fairies, unicorns, castles.

"You like to draw?" He asked. She looked up at him and nodded, Phil went over and smiled.

"Hey, wow these are really good." Said Phil, Jodie looked away smiling bashfully before continuing to draw. Phil smiled and looked at the latest drawing.

"I like the orange sun, it's different." Said Phil, Dan smiled softly when his eyes darted to the bruises on her arm which he hoped weren't recent. He bit his lip, and looked back to the tin. Thinking about what she told him, he remembered when he was her age. He'd been bullied too and was alone, or at least he felt like he was. He stood up, and motioned for Phil to follow him.

"I want to adopt Jodie." Said Dan, which surprised Phil.

"That was fast, Bear." Said Phil, with a small chuckle.

"It's just… I talked to her a bit, and the other kids bully her and I remember when I was bullied, I felt horrible. I saw a bruise on her arm and she said they hit her, if she tells Mrs. Finchley… I see her and… I see the way it was for me." Said Dan, Phil looked down. Recalling his own past experience before nodding, when Mrs. Finchley returned.

"Oh, are you boys done?" She asked.

Dan and Phil looked at each other, before nodding deciding that they were ready now more than ever.

"We want to adopt Jodie." Said Phil,the old woman looked rather startled for a second before nodding and leading up the steps to her office. Which, reminded them an awful lot of Umbridge's office. Pink walls, with pictures of kittens on the walls as well as floral patterns galore. They sat down in front of her mahogany desk.

"Now, I won't lie to you. Jodie is a sweet girl, she's well mannered and soft spoken, however we've had a few… incidents." Said Mrs. Finchley. She cleared her throat, and reached into her desk, before pulling out a file and handing it over to them. "She has been in ten different homes since she came to us, and each time she's been brought back for one reason or another."

"Why?" Asked Dan, as he and Phil skimmed through the file.

"Oh, some claim that there have been strange things such as items disappearing, and often times she'll blame an imaginary friend she's made up. Children who suffer some type of trauma, often have 'imaginary friends' to help them cope. The other children often report such thing as well, and they treat her horribly. I try to step in, but she doesn't say and well… if she doesn't say anything then I can't do anything." She explained, before clearing her throat. "She also has a very strong fear of the dark. Which could be as a result of how she came to us."

"How did she come, if you don't mind me asking?" Asked Phil. The old woman sighed, and began to clean her glasses.

"Well… her family was found murdered in their home, there were no signs of forced entry but… well. They found her hidden in her room unaware of what had happened." Said Mrs. Finchley, Dan and Phil shared a look before looking at the picture of the little girl. Honestly, though, they wanted to give her a chance.

"We still want to go through with the adoption." Said Dan.

"Alright then, let me just tell her to get her things ready and then we'll deal with the paperwork." Said Mrs. Finchley, before walking away.

"It sounds like she's gone through a lot… do you really think we have what it takes?" Asked Dan, as Phil kept on looking through the file.

"I don't know I mean... I think we can. Yeah, we're not the most conventional couple but we're loving, and supportive and… I think we can do it. We can give her a good home." Said Phil confidently, Dan sighed softly and nodded. Even though he did have his doubts, if Phil said they'd be ok… then they had to be. The two stood up as Mrs. Finchley walked in, with Jodie carrying a backpack and holding a pink polkadotted suitcase. Her blue eyes looked up at Dan and Phil sheepishly before looking away.

"Now, Jodie goes to St. Aurore School for Young Girls, it's a small private school which considering your address, is ten blocks away. She isn't allergic to anything, thankfully, however as I have stated she does suffer from nyctophobia. " Said Mrs. Finchley, as she typed up the paperwork before printing it out. "Just sign here."

Dan and Phil each signed it, with Jodie not uttering a single word as they did so. Slowly, she looked up at Phil, before looking back up at Dan. One big thing she noticed was that they were really, really tall people. Another thing she noticed, were their matching hairstyles and that while Phil wore brighter colors judging from the plaid shirt. Dan mostly wore black, she stood up when they did and flinched as Phil extended his hand out to her. The ten year old girl looked up, to Phil who had a kind smile on his face.

Slowly she inched her hand forward before deciding against it, and going back to holding her suitcase with both hands. There was no point in holding someone's hand when they'd probably send her back in less than a week. Dan gently placed a hand on her shoulder, and they left.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Dan and/or Phil nor anyone associated with them**

 **Prewritten chapter**

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The now family of three got into a cab and Dan noticed that the blond girl was trying to make herself seem as small as possible. She was hunched over and hugging the pink and white suitcase tightly.

"Are you alright?" Asked Dan softly, she nodded and still looked straight ahead.

"You're going to love our flat, there's a lot of stairs, which I hope you won't mind and we have far too many mugs but we have dvds and lots of books, we also travel to America and other places, that we'll take you to. Have you ever been to America?" Asked Phil, she looked up and shook her head. "You'll love it, there's Disneyland, Six Flags, and Vidcon and Playlist are loads of fun."

"Wh-what do you do?" She asked curiously.

"Well, we're Youtubers, which means it's our job to make videos for the internet; sometimes we collab with other Youtubers. We also present a radio show once a month and go to lots of events." Said Dan, Jodie looked back down at her fingers. Honestly, the two of them sounded awfully busy. Once they were at the flat, Jodie followed them inside where she walked up the stairs. There were pictures on the walls and a computer with a few other consoles on the dining table in the lounge. The flat had a few houseplants and there were a lot of little knickknacks in the lounge.

"Now we did used to have separate rooms, but we decided to make one of them your room." Said Phil, she followed them to the room straight down the hall.. There was a bed with fairy lights strung on the headboard by the window and a desk and drawer that were white as well. The sheets were orange checkered, and looked comfortable. There was a small wardrobe on the far side of the room.

"Do you like it?" Asked Dan, as she sat on the bed.

She nodded and set her suitcase down on the bed before sitting down. Dan and Phil shared a look, noticing that she was just… quiet; not happy or excited, or even sad, just quiet. They both sat on either side of her.

"Is something the matter?" Asked Phil, gently running a hand through her hair. The thing was, she did like the room, but she wasn't going to be here long so really there was no point in getting attached. Either to the flat or to Dan and Phil. She shook her head and continued to look down at the floor. There was no use in talking to them, they would just go and say the same things everyone else said: 'oh don't worry, we promise we won't send you back', 'we're going to be a family', 'we will love you no matter what'.

"No… thank you." Said Jodie softly.

"You were pretty talkative back there, do you not like the room? We can change the walls or the layout, or even the bedding if you want. Phil and I have the almost same bed sheets so we thought it would be fun, but if you want different ones we can get you some." Said Dan, she shook her head and laid down on the bed. Dan and Phil met each other's' gazes. It seemed like the little girl wanted to be alone right now.

"We'll be in the lounge if you need us." Said Phil, as he and Dan left. Jodie just laid there on the soft sheets, and soon she heard it: the scratching and clawing in the walls. She covered her ears and whimpered as a little voice whispered in her ears.

"They don't really want you, they only picked you because they felt sorry for you. You even heard them, they have a lot going on in their lives! You're just an extra burden; one more thing they have to worry about. Once they see what a burden you are; once they see how bad and horrible you are, they'll take you back just like all the others." Whispered the voice in a sweet tone. She sniffed and felt the tears stinging her eyes. "You know I'm right. I always am."

She let out a small choked sob, remembering her other families, clutching the sheets so tight her knuckles were white. The ones who promised they'd love her forever but then left her and took her back, the ones who gave up on her. The ones who promised to never hurt her only to turn around and strike her when things got bad and accused her of doing things she didn't. In time, Dan and Phil would be just like all the rest. Just another couple in a chain of ones who let her down. She soon heard footsteps, hiccuping as someone sat on the bed.

"Hey, its ok." Said Phil softly.

"No… n-no… it isn't… y-you're go-going t-t-to send me away… j-just like-like everyone e-e-else." She cried, and Phil immediately picked her up and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug.

"Where would you get an idea like that?" He asked.

"Th-thats what they always d-do… They say they won't… but… but then they do. An...and, you're… you'll do it too. " Said Jodie, looking up at Phil with red rimmed eyes. Phil shook his head and hugged her tightly.

"I pinky swear, we won't… you're our little girl, and nothing can or will change that. I know, you've had a really, really rough start, but Dan and I love you and we want to be your parents." Phil reassured, as he rubbed small circles on her back. He extended his pinky out to her, this was probably strange but well… he figured that he needed someway to make her really believe he'd keep his promise. She interlocked her pinkie with his, and hugged him. She didn't know if he was telling the truth or not but… there was this extremely tiny part of her that thought maybe he was. She sniffed and dried her tears as he looked down at her

"What… what do I call you?" She asked softly.

"You can call us by our names until you're comfortable." Phil told her, she nodded as he led her down the stairs. "C'mon, why don't you go with us in the lounge, I'm editing a video right now but I'll call for pizza later. Does that sound ok?"

She nodded and followed Phil to the lounge, where Dan was on the couch. Immediately Dan looked up and smiled softly at Jodie who sat down next to him while Phil got his laptop, sitting next to her. Jodie sniffled as Dan pulled her close. She hiccupped once more before leaning against Dan and hugged him, while she sniffed. Phil smiled at them out of the corner of his eye, before putting in his earphones.

"Are you alright?" Asked Dan softly. She nodded in response, and Dan sighed softly as he ran his fingers through her hair.

"What's that?" She asked, pointing to the webpage with its blue background and white boxes, with pictures and others had a lot of text.

"It's a website I like to go on a lot called Tumblr. A lot of people say its the hub of the internet, where you can find a lot of things; either about current news, or pop culture, fandoms, a whole bunch of things. " He explained, she nodded and watched as he scrolled. She stopped his hand from scrolling when she saw a picture. The pictures were moving like in Harry Potter and it was a bunch of couples. One was Dan and Phil, below a bond woman with a brown haired woman, and below that a blond haired man with a brown haired woman and pugs. She bit her lip as she looked at the two of them.

Papa had been blond too, although his hair was shorter, and he had a mustache. He'd had blue eyes, was tall, and had smiled at Mama like that. Her eyes looked to the lady, who had a face like mommy's. With the same cheeks, her chin was a little rounder and her hair was blond but… she looked like her too. She sniffed, and immediately Dan turned to her worriedly.

"What's wrong?" He asked softly. Jodie kept looking at the picture, before looking up at him with red rimmed eyes.

"They look like mommy and daddy." She replied, without even thinking. She honestly didn't really care, people were going to keep asking...they always did. Mostly so they could once again, say that they loved her even if she knew it wasn't true. So why not just tell them and get it over with.

"It's alright." He whispered, wrapping both arms around her. She sniffed and began to cry again, but this time it was because of mommy and daddy. Even if it had been a year ago, she still missed them very, very much. She remembered the visits to the park, the hugs and kisses goodnight, the stories, the creampuffs, the laughter… everything. Dan sighed softly and rested his chin on the top of her head, he kissed the top of her head and gently wiped away her tears.

"Hey, it's going to be alright. I know how scary it can be when you think about…" He wanted to say Death, but he figured that even a year later, it was much too soon. So, he skipped that. "The point is, your mum and dad are still with you and they always will be. They're going to be so proud of the person you'll become, because you're going to do great things someday. When they look down, their going to be so happy with you. "

"Really?" She asked. Normally people would tell her that her parents wouldn't want her to be sad and that they were angels; not that. He nodded and smiled softly. She looked back at the screen, still hugging Dan and clinging to his shirt.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own Dan and/or Phil**

 **Prewritten chapter**

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They looked up when Phil yawned and stretched. Dan chuckled and immediately stopped the laptop from falling off of Phil's lap.

"Tired?" Asked Dan.

"A bit. I think I'll push this one back until tomorrow. I've started to hate the sound of my own voice." Said Phil, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I wouldn't mind listening to your voice for hours on end." Said Dan with a cheeky smile, Phil affectionately rolled his eyes while Dan chuckled, Phil turned to Jodie.

"What kind of pizza do you want? Dan and I are getting a vegan pizza, but you can have a different one if you want." Said Phil.

"What's a vegan pizza?" She asked curiously, looking up at both Dan and Phil curiously.

"Well, vegans are people who don't eat things that come from animals. They can't eat dairy, they can't eat meat, it's a different kind of vegetarianism. A vegan pizza is a pizza, just with substitutes for cheese, and it has other toppings on it. Phil's lactose intolerant and I'm trying to be vegan." Explained Dan. "But just because we're eating it doesn't mean you have to."

"Are you sure?" She asked curiously, Phil nodded and ruffled her hair.

"Yeah, we won't force you to be vegan or live a lactose free life. Besides, it's not that bad. I can have a glass of milk a day, so we should be good." Said Phil reassuringly, Jodie looked down. One of her other families were strict about dinner. It was either eat what was on your plate or you didn't eat at all. So, this was… different. She looked up at Phil, who was waiting for her answer. "I, um… I like hawaiian pizza."

"Ok, two vegan pizzas and a hawaiian pizza." Said Phil, before getting on the phone. Dan took the laptops back to the room and got the paper towels and plates.

"We're eating here?" She asked.

"Yeah, we actually don't use the dining table very much to be honest; we eat here on the couch and watching tv or a movie. You can pick one." Said Dan, handing over the remote. She nodded, and after telling her how to switch from the regular tv to Netflix, Jodie looked through the movies. When she spotted Coraline, she remembered watching it with her mum in theatres when it came out. Immediately she looked up at Dan and Phil.

"Can we watch it?" Asked Jodie, Dan and Phil shared a look. While they would have liked too, they weren't exactly sure about the content matter and how it would affect her; what with the 'Other Mother', the part where Coraline doesn't find her parents in the house, and the cool but kind of scary visuals…

She looked up at them pleadingly.

"Please? you said I could pick." Said Jodie, turning to Dan.

"Yeah, I… I did, didn't I?" He replied under his breath. "It's just… we're not exactly sure that you'd be comfortable watching it."

"I'll be fine, I promise." Said Jodie, Phil lifted an eyebrow and looked at her curiously.

"You're sure?" Asked Phil, she nodded and smiled up at him. They got started on the movie once the pizzas arrived, with Dan and Phil checking on her a few times out of the corner of their eyes to see if she was coping well. One thing they noticed was that she kept looking at the vegan pizza topped with spinach, olives, peppers, and other greens.

"Want to try it? " Asked Dan as he handed her a slice. He chuckled, as she took it and sniffed it first before taking a bite out of it. Her face contorted into a sort of grossed out grimace, which made them chuckle. She yawned and her eyes seemed droopy.

"Why don't you get ready for bed, we'll be there to tuck you in soon." Said Phil, she nodded and tiredly left the lounge. "I was worried she'd see the part."

"Same here… Hey Phil, do you think we should tell everyone?" Asked Dan curiously. "I mean, I know they already know about us but, I'm worried all the attention will freak her out or make her uncomfortable."

"I think that we should wait until she's ready." Said Phil, as much as he wanted to brag about his and Dan's daughter, like any parent, he also had to wait until she wanted to. After all, there were various Youtubers, fans, and their job at the BBC, and… it was a lot to take in. No, better to give her some space than anything. They looked up, when the picture of Dan and Colin fell off of the shelf.

"Well that was weird." Said Dan, as he picked it up and put it back on the shelf.

"Yeah, especially since we just watched Coraline, maybe it-"

"Don't even start." Said Dan, looking back at Phil, who chuckled and kissed Dan's lips. Dan smiled and looked into Phil's blue eyes, before smiling and kissing him. Everything was perfect, they were married, had a daughter, all they were missing was the dog and they'd have the perfect life. Dan held Phil's hand and led him down the hallway, when he heard the springing noises and laughter. The two peeked in, and saw Jodie jumping on the bed and laughing.

"Yeah, and then we watched Coraline… No, I didn't… They're really nice… Yeah, they are." Said Jodie, talking to the air in front of her. Normally this would have creeped Dan out, it usually did when it happened in movies. However, Mrs. Finchley did tell them she had an imaginary friend, so that was clearly what was going on. Phil knocked on the door and she immediately stopped.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Asked Phil curiously.

"I was talking to Sally." Said Jodie, pointing to the empty spot in front of her. Red flags went off in Dan's mind, however he just shrugged them off.

"Well, it's time for you and Sally to go to bed." Said Phil, Jodie turned to the empty spot and she whispered something, before falling on her back onto the bed.

"Sally's mad." Said Jodie, as she crawled under the orange covers, contrasting her purple pajama bottoms. Phil smiled softly, and sat on the bed. While Dan, cast a very wary look to the spot where 'Sally' had been.

"I'm sure she'll be better in the morning," Said Phil encouragingly. "Now, its time for you to go to bed. What helps you go to sleep, stories? cookies and milk? singing?"

"Can you look in my closet and under my bed for monsters?" She asked, Phil nodded, and immediately knelt down to look under the bed while Dan looked in the closet. Dan closed the closet, and smiled back at her.

"No monsters in here." Said Dan.

"None here." Said Phil, as he got up and sat on the bed. Jodie looked at the window, and Dan locked it tightly as Phil tucked her in. Still, her blue eyes shifted to look at the closet and never left it; almost as if she were waiting for something to pop out. Dan bit his lip, before an idea popped in his mind. He left, and returned soon afterward with a bear.

"Who's that?" Asked Jodie, sitting up. Phil smiled softly at Dan, who met his gaze and sat down.

"This is my old bear. My grandma gave it to me when I was born. I never gave him a name, but he'll protect you and he loves you just as much as we do." Said Dan. Jodie gingerly took the bear and held it. It was soft, and looked new. The eleven year old hugged Dan, who hugged her back.

"Goodnight." Said Dan, kissing the top of her head.

"Goodnight. sweetheart, we'll see you in the morning." Said Phil, gently kissing her forehead. Dan went to the door and Phil stood beside him with his arms wrapped around Dan's waist.

"We love you," Said Dan, she smiled and cuddled up to the bear when they closed the door. She immediately looked around the room, it was pitch black. Her eyes looked around the room warily. Meanwhile Dan was waiting in bed for Phil to put on his pajamas.

" Do you think we should be encouraging the whole….imaginary friend thing?" Asked Dan, as he stared up at the ceiling. Maybe it was all those horror movies he saw but, there was something not quite right about imaginary friends. Especially considering how Jodie said that "Sally" was angry.

"I don't see anything wrong with it, most kids have imaginary friends. Besides, you remember what Mrs. Finchley said, it's a coping mechanism." Said Phil rationally. Dan sighed, and continued staring up at the ceiling, Phil did have a point.

"Yeah but one, she's ten… isn't ten kind of old to be having an imaginary friend?" Asked Dan, Phil shrugged and looked at him oddly.

"Not really, I mean thirteen yeah but I don't consider ten to be too old. Normalness leads to sadness remember?" Said Phil, Dan sighed and crossed his arms over his chest, knowing that Phil did have a point. The thing was, even if he was a science-y guy, the supernatural was something that did scare him; which he always found rather odd… Though he supposed he chalked that up to his grandma letting him watch the 'Night on Bald Mountain Sequence' when he was little. Phil got into the bed and tenderly kissed his cheek, wrapping his arms around Dan.

"Dan, she'll be alright, I promise." Said Phil with a small smile. Dan looked into his blue eyes and sighed. If Phil said things were ok, then they had to be ok, right? He nodded and the two kissed before laying down together. Dan let Phil be the big spoon and laid there in his arms before closing his eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own Dan and/Or Phil**

 **Prewritten chapter, hey guys so I just to warn you guys that the nightmare sequence here is incredibly butal and that the story gets a bit more...disturbing from here on out. You have been warned.**

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He opened them to the sound of sniffling and whimpering. Is Jodie crying or having a nightmare, he wondered. He got up and put on a bathrobe before exiting the room. He always hated dark hallways… Actually, this wasn't his hallway. For one Jodie's door wasn't there, nor was the door to the lounge, the kitchen, or the staircase that led to the office. It was just a hallway. There were white tile floors and the walls were the color of mustard. He could see pictures but the faces were blurred and there were no features he could make out, which was odd as he'd literally been in his room before. Where was he? He didn't know this place at all.

The brunet heard more whimpering and crying come from the end of the hall. Instinctively, Dan went to put his back against the wall, but he couldn't move. His body was moving yes, but he wasn't controlling it. He tried to stop his legs, move his fingers, something, but nothing was stopping him. He entered one of the doors where a little girl with curly brown hair and big brown eyes was sitting on her bed nursing an arm covered in bruises and that was twisted the wrong way.

She gasped, and immediately stood up. She had tear stains on her cheeks and her eyes looked bloodshot, noticing one of them was bruised and swollen. She was wearing a dirty white tank top and purple pajama bottoms; looking up at him as if she were going to scream at any moment.

"Are you trying to wake everyone else up? You filthy whore?" Said a harsh voice that seemed to come from his body. "You're just like your mother, good for nothing and crying about everything. I'll give you something to cry about."

Dan tried to look away but he couldn't, he tried to close his eyes but he couldn't. He tried to do something; anything. Scream, yell, tried to stop the arm of whoever's body he was in. No matter what he did, however, it didn't stop and he was forced to watch as the little girl cowered in the corner, screaming for her mum and for her daddy to stop. Crying as the belt made a sickening sound, as it hit her tiny body she screamed and her screams rang loud and clear in his ears. The little girl began to cough up blood, as the belt continued to smack her. She looked up at him one more time; her face contorting into one of anger and hatred. Her brown eyes looked almost black for a split second before the final blow was dealt… and she fell to the ground.

Dan gasped and woke up with sweat beading his brow and his hair curling from the moisture. He sighed and was shaking as he ran a hand through his hair. Phil was peacefully asleep next to him and tears were prickling Dan's eyes. He'd just witnessed the death of a child. He'd watched and been unable to do anything as a little girl was beaten to death. He sniffed and sighed as he tried to push that thought from his head, but he kept seeing her face. Especially the look she had before her death. The hatred in her eyes, the pure scorn and anger in them was enough to make him uneasy and sick to his stomach. Infact, he felt like vomiting.

He looked up to see a tiny figure at the doorway. For half a second he thought it was the little girl, but then he noticed her hair was blonde instead of brown and her eyes were blue not brown. Jodie was standing there, clinging to the doorframe.

"Jodie?" He whispered, immediately Jodie entered and closed the door before running over to the bed. The ten year old immediately climbed into bed, which woke Phil.

"What's going on?" He asked softly, as Jodie looked up at both of them with her big blue eyes. Immediately, Dan wrapped his arms around her; the memory of that nightmare still lingering in his thoughts.

"I had a bad dream… Sally kept on yelling… and… and she was being mean." Said Jodie looking up at Phil before sniffing, her eyes full of tears as she clung to Dan who was still hugging her tightly.

"Well, not to worry sweetheart, I'm sure she didn't mean it. Do you want to sleep here tonight?" Asked Phil. She nodded and let go of Dan, who scooched over to give her some space before laying her in the middle. Phil tucked her in and he kissed her forehead.

"Goodnight, sweetheart." Said Phil softly, Dan gently brushed some of her hair back before kissing her forehead. He sighed softly, before noticing what appeared to be a small dark spot on her forehead. He pushed it to the back of his mind before laying down. It was possible he was just hallucinating. Still, he'd ask tomorrow, but for now he closed his eyes and went back to next day, Dan was up first having not slept very well last night. He looked and smiled softly at Phil and Jodie still asleep, Phil's dark fringe swept back. He honestly preferred it that way if he was perfectly honest. His brown eyes studied every inch of Phil's face, his hand immediately caressing it. Phil smiled, and shifted a bit in his sleep making Dan chuckle lightly. He looked down at Jodie and he was immediately more alert.

On her forehead near her right temple, was a very large bruise. It was purple with a few yellowing edges, and it looked as if someone had struck her there, which disturbed him a great deal. He wondered if she'd hurt herself during the night, or… No, clearly he'd watched far too many horror movies if he thought it was her imaginary friend. Suddenly, he thought back to the nightmare he'd had last night. He shook his head and got up, going to make breakfast and wondering if he was going crazy or something.

An hour or so later, Phil yawned and began to stir when he looked around and saw Dan wasn't there, which was a bit odd. He stretched and yawned, when he looked down and immediately put on his glasses. Jodie stirred slightly as Phil gently shook her awake.

"Jodie, sweetheart, little lion, where did you get that?" He asked, as she drowsily rubbed her eyes.

"Hm?" She replied sleepily before yawning. She looked up at him in confusion before turning to the closet that doubled as mirrors. The ten year old turned her head to the side as she looked at the bruise on her head.

"Oh, I bumped my head on the wall." She explained calmly before looking up at Phil.

"Are you sure?" He asked in concern. She nodded, and yawned again before laying down and rolling over.

"Nighty-night." Said Jodie, before closing her eyes. Phil smiled and decided to let her rest a little bit longer. What time was it anyway, he wondered. The Youtuber turned and looked at the clock. It was in the morning, which was uncharacteristically early for him and Dan. Then again, today was going to be a busy day. They were going to be out all day and Dan had a Younow to do later. Not to mention he and Dan had to plan out that Collab they were going to do with Tanya and Jim tomorrow. He got up and went to the lounge where Dan was in the browsing position on Tumblr.

"Morning, you're up early." Said Phil, as he sat down.

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep. I had the most horrific dream last night." Said Dan, as he set the laptop aside.

"About what?" Asked Phil curiously, Dan sighed and looked back at the door to make sure Jodie wasn't there listening.

" I woke up, because I heard crying, but when I went outside….it was another hallway and It was...like I was in another person's body. I went to the room and I saw this little girl, she had long curly brown hair and brown eyes….The body I was in….he hurt her." Explained Dan, recalling the nightmare vividly. Feeling his throat begin to tighten and his chest beginning to ache at the memory of seeing the belt leaving dark bruises on her body, her brown eyes glaring up at him. Phil wrapped his arms around Dan in a tight hug.

"It's alright Bear, it was just a dream…..a dream that I kind of had too." Said Phil, and immediately Dan looked up at him curiously.

"Wait you did?" Asked Dan, as his brown eyes looked into Phil's blue ones.

"Yeah, I was in the man and...I saw her too." Said Phil, recalling the little girl whose death he'd witnessed. " I pushed it to the side though and...I tried not to think about it. But, this morning Jodie had a bruise on her face and she said she ran into a wall."

"I saw it last night," Said Dan before reassuringly placing a hand on Phil's shoulder. "I'm sure that, maybe that is what happened. Neither one of us would ever do...what he did. We would never hurt her."

Phil smiled softly and nodded, he needed that reassurance. He hadn't shown it but, the nightmare had affected him deeply and just the thought of hurting theirs or any child made him very ill. They settled down to watch tv together, deciding to wait until Jodie woke up to make breakfast. After a few minutes, Jodie walked out groggily.

"Hey, 'morning sleepyhead." Said Phil with a small smile.

"Or rather, afternoon it's 11:00" Said Dan with a small chuckle. Jodie immediately looked down bashfully, back in a few of her homes this usually meant she wouldn't get breakfast or lunch. Waking up so late was infact very frowned upon,

"Time for breakfast!" Exclaimed Phil, which shocked her.

"Breakfast? now?" She asked curiously.

" Yeah, we wait until everyone is up before having breakfast. So, what do you want to eat? we have cereal...if Phil hasn't eaten all of it, waffles, or we can make you some pancakes if you want." Said Phil, as he led her to the kitchen, "Be careful of the glass door at night time, Dan and I have run into it a number of times. "

"Um…..can I have pancakes, please?" She asked innocently.

"Of course you can, why don't you head on back to the lounge and I'll make you some." Said Phil, she nodded and walked off back to the lounge where she sat down next to Dan.

"When is the first day of school?" Asked Dan curiously, Jodie paused for a second...when was the first day of school


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own Dan and Or Phil**

 **Hey Pastries, so this is the last of the prewritten chapters I will be finishing this today, so I can turn it in and by that I mean send the link**

"September 1st. We have to wear uniforms and I don't really like them." Said Jodie simply, making Dan chuckle.

"Yeah, I didn't really like my school uniforms either. Later we'll go back to school shopping; we have lots to do today actually. Tomorrow we're visiting a few friends of ours, in order to do a collab." Explained Dan, Jodie tilted her head to the side curiously.

"Are they nice?" She asked, hoping they'd be nice and not like the usual friends of her foster families.

"Well, I'd say they are. They even have a dog." Said Dan, and she immediately looked up at him in excitement.

"They have a puppy?" She asked enthusiastically.

"Yes, she's a tiny little weiner dog named Martha." Explained Dan, and immediately Jodie looked up at Dan with a wide smile.

"Can we get a puppy?" She asked. Dan chuckled, and smiled tenderly as their daughter hopped aboard the 'Dan and Phil need to get a dog' train. He gently ruffled her blond hair, making her laugh.

" Not right now, see we can't have any pets because we live in a flat and our landlord says we're not allowed any. Plus, we travel a lot and we wouldn't really have anyone around to look after it." He explained, she pouted for half a second before nodding and not wanting to push the subject. That was something that made people angry most of the time.

" Maybe one day we will get one, I've always liked the idea of a shiba inu." Said Dan, when she looked up at him strangely. Immediately he pulled up the image of shiba inus on his laptop, and she gasped lightly again.

" Their so cute! We need to get one!" Exclaimed Jodie, before remembering what Dan said. "Oh, right...it's not fair."

" I know, but hey maybe one day we will get one." Said Dan reassuringly.

" Get what?" Asked Phil, as he showed up with breakfast.

"A puppy, Dan was telling me how your friends have one...and I asked for one, but he said no because the landlord says no." Said Jodie, Phil turned to Dan who shrugged in response before sitting down sitting down next to Jodie.

"Well he's not wrong, we can't right now. Which I wish we could I could buy an army of dogs, or hamsters, or kittens." Said Phil, and Dan immediately rolled his eyes affectionately.

" We can't get a hamster or kittens Phil." Said Dan, immediately both Phil and Jodie looked up at him, with big blue puppy dog eyes. " Seriously? Now there's two of you ganging up on me?"

The other two nodded making Dan laugh, after eating breakfast they got ready before heading out the door. Dan in his usual black skinny jeans, black zip up shoes, grey shirt and black jacket. Contrasting Phil's bright yellow shirt, slightly lighter pants, and bright shoes. Jodie looked down at her own clothes, which were bright jeans, pale pink shirt, she looked to Phil's hand as he extended it. Slowly she took it, and held his hand as they made their way down the stairs.

Once they were out, Jodie looked up at the window apprehensively and winced as Sally looked down at her angrily. She leaned in closer to Phil, and chose to ignore her knowing that it wouldn't be very good once they got home.

" So, the first things first, we're going to go shopping for back to school materials and your uniform, then maybe later get some other shopping done...we're kind of running low on food in the pantry." Said Dan, as they made their way down the street.

"Oh look at Mr. Planner." Teased Phil, making Dan scoff and pretend to be offended.

"Can we go to the park?" Asked Jodie curiously.

"Of course we can, its a nice day today." Said Phil, motioning to the clear sunny skies, the birds chirping, and not even one cloud was out today.

"For once." Said Dan sarcastically, and after getting their shopping done. In which Dan and Phil had bought many colorful ribbons, hair ties, hair bows, per Jodie's request. As well as some hair chalk, they were now in the actual school supplies section. Jodie was filling up the cart as they went along, when Dan stopped upon noticing a box of crayons. It was just a regular Crayola box, nothing special or extraordinary about it. He remembered though, when they and Jodie had first met, she said she hadn't been allowed new ones…..well, maybe he'd come back for these as a surprise. He also took note of the nearby sketchpads, colored pencils, and watercolors. Deciding to maybe come back for those, he followed after Phil and Jodie when he heard some squeals.

Immediately Phil stepped in front of Jodie, as did Dan when a couple of fans went over. Jodie was puzzled, as she stood there behind Dan and Phil, wondering why they were hiding her from the girls. She tried to see, but they were just so big and tall, finally the ten year old was slightly fed up with this. The tiny blond decided to go look at the toys then, if they were going to be busy. She made her way down one of the aisles, when one of the lights overhead started flickering and she could spy a few moths being drawn to another one.

She stopped, when she saw a part of the shop which was lit very dimly. Unfortunately, that was where the toys were. Her blue eyes looked at the dolls and stuffed animals just out of reach, she looked back at Dan and Phil just around the corner. Plucking up her courage, she ventured into the aisle with its crackling light and the toys all staring at her menacingly. Jodie gasped as Sally was right there infront of her staring at her with black, unfeeling eyes and her pale skin. She screamed as she was tackled.

Hearing her scream, Dan and Phil ran as fast as they could. There was a small crowd near the toy aisle, they went and stopped when they saw Jodie on the floor. She was screaming and crying, while trying to fight some invisible force off of her body, clawing, kicking, and punching at it. Her shrill screams ringing in their ears. Immediately security was there, as Dan tried to calm her down when she without meaning to smacked him across the face and scratched him slightly with her nails.

Dan was left shocked, as she continued to scream while Phil tried to explain to security what happened. Finally Jodie stopped screaming, and started coughing. The ten year old flipped over, and immediately threw up a black, almost ink like substance that was mixed in with what looked like small blood clots before collapsing. The last thing the tiny ten year old saw were Dan and Phil telling her to hold on, and Sally standing there looking down at her with those cold, dead eyes.

" She was suffering from what looked like a panic episode or perhaps a hallucination. As for the contents she expelled from her system, we aren't quite sure what to make of that. We looked and there are no signs of damage to any of her intestines, or other organs which could have triggered it." Said the doctor and Phil found that very hard to believe honestly. What healthy child threw up black stuff and blood clots? He looked back into the room, as Dan was by her bedside. The hospital ride had been a blur, and Dan had gone to be with her whilst Phil explained to the doctor what had happened.

"Except for the bruise on her head, and the scratches on her upper arms, she looks to be the picture of health internally." Said the doctor, immediately Phil looked at the older man curiously.

"Scratches?" Asked Phil.

The old man, opened the file and Phil's jaw dropped at the scratches on her upper arms. It looked like she'd been attacked by a massive animal.

" Is she going to be alright?" Asked Phil.

"She will be, you can even take her home if you wish. Just be sure to give her lots of fluids, and I have also prescribed some medication in case she has another…'episode'" Said the doctor, before handing Phil an orange bottle with medications in it. "Two tablets every day, one in the morning and one before she goes to sleep. Come back in two weeks time, so I can evaluate her again."

"Thank you." Said Phil, as he took the pills before going inside and putting his hand on Dan's shoulder. Slowly Jodie began to open her eyes, as Dan gently brushed some of her hair back.

"You alright sweetheart?" Asked Dan softly.

"I wanna go home." She whimpered, looking up at him tiredly. Dan nodded and hugged her, immediately she clung to his jacket, and buried her face in his shirt. Phil hugged the both of them, when he noticed the scratch on Dan's face….he made a mental note to ask about that later. Once they were home, Jodie was on the couch buried in a cocoon of orange checkered bed sheets. She looked down as she could hear Sally's voice in her head.

" They hate you now, I mean after that little freakout...you know as well as I do that the minute they see something strange they'll abandon you just like all the others." Said Sally, and Jodie glared at the spot next to her.

"You hurt me." Said the ten year old.

"I only hurt you, because I love you." Said Sally, "I'm only doing what's best….they're talking about you."

Immediately Jodie stood up and crossed the hall to where the kitchen was, and she could hear them talking.

" I wonder what happened, I mean she was behind us and then the next minute….do you think she got hurt or…" Dan let that sentence trail off, he wasn honestly unsure about what happened today. Phil reassuringly wrapped his arms around his waist,

" I'm not sure, all I do know she needs us now more than ever. We just need to let her know that, if she needs to she can come to us with whatever is bothering her, and that we love her. I know what happened today was scary, but everything is going to be fine." Said Phil, Dan turned and looked into Phil's sincere blue eyes.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own Dan and Or Phil**

 **Hey Pastries, so ok I forgot and this is the last semi prewritten chapter, and yeah...so here it is I hope you like it Warning the nightmare is pretty short but graphic.**

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"You sure?" He asked.

"I'm positive." Said Phil. They looked up, when they heard a sneeze followed by a small sniffle. They went over to see Jodie sitting there nestled in her blankets. The tiny ten year old immediately looked up at them curiously.

"You're not going to take me back, are you?" She asked worriedly.

"Oh, sweetheart." Said Dan softly, as he sat down next to her and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. "Of course we aren't. What happened today, it doesn't mean we're going to leave you or take you back. We love you."

Phil sat down on the other side of Jodie and gently ran a hand through her hair.

"You're stuck here until you graduate and go off to Uni, even then you can live here until you decide to live on your own." Said Phil reassuringly. "That won't be for a long time though."

Jodie looked up at Dan and Phil. There was something that seemed so sincere and genuine about what they said. Almost as if they actually meant what they were saying. Phil gently kissed the top of her head. Everything was ok… It had to be. Later, after eating dinner and Jodie had taken her medication, Dan was cleaning the dishes while Phil was tucking Jodie into bed.

"Sweetheart, can I ask what happened today?" Asked Phil, immediately Jodie looked down. Now was the moment of truth; the moment where they asked and… usually after this question she'd find herself with a one way ticket back. However, Dan and Phil had expressly told her they weren't going to give up on her.

"Remember how I said Sally got really mad?" She asked.

Phil nodded, as he listened intently.

"Sally was my friend and she lives in the walls, and sometimes she's nice but she's really, really mean. Sometimes she hits me and yells at me, or she scratches me. She says it's ok though, because she only does it because she loves me." Explained Jodie, and Phil's jaw dropped as he looked at the little girl in horror.

"That's not ok. No one who loves you is supposed to hurt you like that. A true friend brings you up, they try to help you and want what's best for you. They don't hurt you, or even dare lift a finger because they love you. If a person, any person, says they're hurting you because they love you, then they don't really love you. They're just saying that so you'll stay with them." Explained Phil, as he gently brushed some of her hair back. "I want you to stop talking to her ok?"

"Why?" She asked curiously.

"Because she's hurting you, and you don't need someone like that in your life." Said Phil as a matter of factly. He knew that this was an imaginary friend and not a real person, but honestly, after what happened today. Perhaps… perhaps there was more that he didn't know. After all, those scratches and bruises hadn't appeared all by themselves. Something had to have left them.

"But she's my only friend." Said Jodie, glumly.

"You'll make new friends once you go to school, better ones who'll treat you nicely." Said Phil, she nodded as he gently kissed the top of her head.

"Good night, sweet dreams." Said Phil, before tucking her in and turning off the lights. He went back to the room, where Dan was in bed scrolling through the internet. He wondered if he should tell him, then again Dan wasn't the superstitious type. Who knew how he'd react to this. Still, their daughter was hurting and in danger and he needed to help.

"Dan, I just got done talking to Jodie about...what happened and she said that, Sally did it." Said Phil, and immediately Dan looked at him strangely. " Oh come on Bear, you were the one who said it was odd for her to have an imaginary friend."

"Yes, because I think their creepy, I didn't think that it meant...well...this." Said Dan.

"Well then how do you explain the bruises and the scratches, and what happened today?" Asked Phil. Dan sighed in exhasperation, honestly he couldn't explain it and that scared him more. The fact that he couldn't and that it was something beyond his control frightened him. How was he supposed to protect his daughter from something he couldn't see?

"I..I don't know, all I know is...it couldn't be her imaginary friend." Said Dan, trying to be reasonable. Phil sighed, and shook his head before going to sleep. They had a big day tomorrow and he didn't want to end the day fighting. Dan sighed softly before looking back at his laptop and typing in 'Imaginary friend' in the search engine. It was the usual strange tales, definitions, studies and what not. He sighed wondering what he was expecting to find. When he bit his lip and shut down the computer before going to sleep.

He woke up once more in the man's body and he inwardly dreaded at what he would see. He looked down and it was the scene where he last left off, the curly brown aired girl was laying there on the floor. Her tiny body covered in bruises and scars. He picked her up, or at least the body of the man he was inhabiting picked her up and went to the wall. He punched a hole in the wall, and removed a few more parts of it before stuffing her in there. It made Dan want to throw up just thinking about it, when the man turned and there was the curly haired girl standing there.

"What the fuck...but..bu-" He screamed as she held her hand up and his throat was being constricted. Slowly, but surely she was crushing his windpipe, and he could see the anger, the fury, the betrayal in her eyes as she glared at him.

"I love you daddy." Said the little girl before everything went black. Dan gasped, as he sat up, and ran a hand through his damp curls. When he could hear a faint scratching sound coming from inside the walls. He looked around, before slowly they faded away, he laid down and curled up against Phil. Yet Dan didn't sleep at all that night.


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